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I just can't understand the vitriol on social media, the "I grew up poor and my mum never got any help so no one else should". The "it doesn't affect me, if people are so worried maybe they should go get a job" etc.

Where is the compassion? The empathy? I am so concerned about this budget, not because it will affect me and my family (and it really will). But because it will effect whole generations of people, people who need access to health and education to better themselves, to pick themselves up and to contribute to society.

I've a friend who grew up in in a single mother family with 5 other siblings, poor indigenous community, terrible health. But our system allowed him to go to school and uni and now he is a high ranking lawyer for one of the biggest multinational companies in the world. That is what happens when you invest in peoples future instead of punishing them for being born into poor circumstances.

I’m listening to Joe Hockey on QandA online and it’s stressing me out. He is the biggest fool (along with TA) and I want to reach through and punch him in the face.
He says that taxes under this budget are lower than the last. He’s correct BUT that’s because he scrapped the Carbon Tax (a tax on organisations making billions of dollars from Australia’s natural resources and a tax that would go into saving our environment) and are increasing taxes on lower income earners, people on disabilities and pensioners. So they’ve basically shifted the burden on ‘reducing the budget’ to those who can least afford it and given big business a tax break! It’s DISGUSTING!
Especially when they harp on about how the carbon tax costs households $550. Where the f do they pluck that from? Propaganda! Under the carbon tax, it was illegal for those business being charged it to on charge it to individuals. So more propaganda, more creative wording. Just sickening.
Realistically none of this matter is global warming gets worse, we won’t even have a planet to live on. But that’s another topic for another thread!
So angry! Not sure if I should be angrier at the NLP or the people who voted them in.

The Following 3 Users Say Thank You to A-Squared For This Useful Post:

$900 million dollar payout to Murdoch from the ATO -The financial review.

The single largest factor in the underlying deterioration of the federal budget announced by Treasurer Joe Hockey in December was a cash payout of almost $900 million to Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation.

The massive windfall, revealed in the US group’s accounts a week ago in New York, was at a time when News Corp newspapers were highly critical of the budget and called for deep cuts.

The drama over the payout, one of the largest cash payments made by the Tax Office, played out behind the scenes during the federal election.

On July 25 the Federal Court of Appeal ruled against the Tax Office to allow News Corp to claim a $2 billion deduction from a series of paper shuffles between subsidiaries.

At the time, The Australian Financial Review speculated the win would be worth up to $600 million in future tax benefits, but interest charges had pushed the payout far higher.

The Tax Office was deciding whether to appeal against the judgment as News Corp newspapers launched a ferocious attack on the government, kicking off with the Daily Telegraph’s headline on August 5, 11 days after the court judgment: “Kick this mob out.” In the following days, Labor leader Kevin Rudd would claim that News Corp was running a virulent anti-government campaign in exchange for concessions from the Coalition.

The Tax Office had 28 days to lodge an appeal, a deadline of August 22.

News Corp later reported that the ATO had advised it would not appeal the case. An ATO spokeswoman said all decisions on whether to appeal a court decision are made by senior officers after seeking external legal opinion.

News Corp’s half-year accounts say “a foreign tax authority” paid $A882 million, in instalments. This included the original tax plus several hundred million dollars of interest.

From the moment the decision was made in late August not to appeal, the payout was an outgoing that had to be applied to the federal budget.

In the December mid-year update, Mr Hockey revealed a major blowout in the 2014 deficit since Labor’s statement on August 1 that underlined the need for major spending cuts.

Cash payout

Discounting new spending announced by the new government, Mr Hockey reported the underlying deficit had jumped $6 billion in the four months. The Australian’s editorial called the update “a devastating picture of Labor’s spending profligacy” and called for urgent action to rein in “wasteful spending”.

But the largest single factor producing the blowout appears to have been the cash payout to News Corp.

Mr Hockey and News Corp declined to comment.

The galling feature for the Tax Office is that the original deals that cost taxpayers $882 million cost News nothing.

In a 1989 meeting, four News Corp Australia executives exchanged cheques and share transfers between local and overseas subsidiaries that moved through several currencies.

They were paper transactions; no funds actually moved. In 2000 and 2001 the loans were unwound. With the Australian dollar riding high, News Corp’s Australian subsidiaries recorded a $2 billion loss, while other subsidiaries in tax havens recorded a $2 billion gain.

By last July that paper “loss”, booked against News Corp’s Australian newspaper operations, had become an $882 million cash payout.

Under a legal arrangement when the company was spun off last June, News was forced to pass all of the tax payout to Mr Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox.

News Corp said it had retained $A81 million because it faced income tax charges on the interest payments by the Tax Office. However it seems unlikely to actually pay these funds: News Corp Australia carried another $1.5 billion in tax deductions from a separate paper shuffle that it made when News reincorporated in the US.

I just can't understand the vitriol on social media, the "I grew up poor and my mum never got any help so no one else should". The "it doesn't affect me, if people are so worried maybe they should go get a job" etc.

Where is the compassion? The empathy? I am so concerned about this budget, not because it will affect me and my family (and it really will). But because it will effect whole generations of people, people who need access to health and education to better themselves, to pick themselves up and to contribute to society.

I've a friend who grew up in in a single mother family with 5 other siblings, poor indigenous community, terrible health. But our system allowed him to go to school and uni and now he is a high ranking lawyer for one of the biggest multinational companies in the world. That is what happens when you invest in peoples future instead of punishing them for being born into poor circumstances.

If the university deregulation goes through, this will mean that wealth and not just academic ability will directly affect university choices. This to me is not what our society should be about. Booking the whole lot up on HECS is unlikely to be an option, and starting a career with hundreds if thousands of dollars of debt when you already have very little resources or support will do nothing to help the inequity over the longer term.

Anecdotes like yours here reinforce to me why higher education access should be determined by ability, not wealth, as this offers people like your friend the opportunity to rise above their circumstances and ultimately help our community because they know what it means on both sides of the scale and what needs to be done to truly help those that need it.

Last edited by clbj; 20-05-2014 at 19:49.

The Following User Says Thank You to clbj For This Useful Post:

I’m listening to Joe Hockey on QandA online and it’s stressing me out. He is the biggest fool (along with TA) and I want to reach through and punch him in the face.
He says that taxes under this budget are lower than the last. He’s correct BUT that’s because he scrapped the Carbon Tax (a tax on organisations making billions of dollars from Australia’s natural resources and a tax that would go into saving our environment) and are increasing taxes on lower income earners, people on disabilities and pensioners. So they’ve basically shifted the burden on ‘reducing the budget’ to those who can least afford it and given big business a tax break! It’s DISGUSTING!
Especially when they harp on about how the carbon tax costs households $550. Where the f do they pluck that from? Propaganda! Under the carbon tax, it was illegal for those business being charged it to on charge it to individuals. So more propaganda, more creative wording. Just sickening.
Realistically none of this matter is global warming gets worse, we won’t even have a planet to live on. But that’s another topic for another thread!
So angry! Not sure if I should be angrier at the NLP or the people who voted them in.

Agree.

If my power, fuel and grocery bill doesn't go down by $550, can I sue the LNP for breach of contract? Not that I voted for them, but since they don't let details get in the way of getting what they want then why should I worry about the pesky facts? :P

On that note, I'm a citizen and I pay tax. We should argue that the government is our employee and issue a collective pink slip/warning with probation for underperformance, poor decision making and breaching the terms of their employment (lied in the job interview) :P

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